The double bass section files in. The orchestra was formerly known as the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra. The musicians, and Gustavo Dudamel himself, are products of the El Sistema music education program in their native Venezuela.

Gustavo Dudamel's musical charisma is felt regularly on at least two continents. He has led the Simón Bolívar Symphony of Venezuela since he was a teenager, and he is now in his fourth season as the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Thirteen players strong, the double basses had plenty to bow about in the colorful music presented on the concert from Mexican composers Carlos Chávez and Silvestre Revueltas, and Cuban composer Julian Orbón.

Dudamel brought a challenging program of works that show off his orchestra, including the incendiary La Noche de los Mayas by the enigmatic and hard-drinking Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. The piece ends with chaotic percussion and the blowing of a conch shell.

Like many of the children in Venezuela's El Sistema program, some of the young players in the Simón Bolívar Symphony came from troubled backgrounds. The goal of the program, begun in the 1970s, was to provide an escape from poverty and crime.

Gustavo Dudamel takes a bow after conducting the Simón Bolívar Symphony. But the show wasn't over quite yet. He led the orchestra in three encores, ending in an ecstatic version of Leonard Bernstein's "Mambo." The composer's daughter Jamie Bernstein was in the hall.

Ramin Talaie
/ NPR

Originally published on October 29, 2015 11:03 am

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel brings the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela — the orchestra he's led since his teen years — to Carnegie Hall with a program of thrilling Latin American music.

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